​Liga MX cancels 2020 Clausura due to coronavirus pandemic

Liga MX has announced that it has canceled the 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Every team in Mexico’s top flight had played 10 games of the 18-game Clausura regular season when the league was shut down in March, but after a meeting Friday, the season and the Liguilla playoffs were called off for both the men’s and women’s Liga MX.

“This Friday, the Extraordinary Assembly of the Liga MX was held, taking vital decisions that allow us to ensure the health of all the people who make up the Liga MX family and the integrity of the football industry,” a statement from the league read.

“The time of the contingency that we are living in has caused increasing scheduling restrictions, which do not allow us to maintain competition without putting the members of this great family at risk. Therefore, in absolute unity, the Extraordinary Assembly of the Liga MX agreed to conclude in advance the 2020 Liga MX Clausura in its men’s and women’s branches.”

No champion will be declared this season, while Cruz Azul and Leon will go into the CONCACAF Champions League.

Liga MX reiterated its desire to complete the 2020 Apertura tournament, which is scheduled to begin in July or August.

As teams eye a return to training in June, Liga MX said that matches would take place behind closed doors if they can go ahead.

“Liga MX will define the start date of the 2020 Apertura based on the recommendations of the Federal Health Sector,” the statement continued. “In a joint decision of the Liga MX and the Health Secretary, matches will be played behind closed doors until the conditions for our fans to return to the stands are in place.

“It is indisputable that we are experiencing an unprecedented situation in our country, which forces the football industry in Mexico to act with absolute good sense and to respond with unity to the demands that have been presented.”

This week, Santos Laguna announced a total of 12 positive cases for COVID-19, with eight confirmed on Wednesday and another four on Thursday.

With a knack for storytelling, Evan started News Brig about a year ago. Covering substantial topics under the Sports,, he helps information seep in deeper with creative writing and content management skills.

UFC star Conor McGregor: I’m retiring from fighting

The announcement, which came after Amanda Nunes’ impressive flyweight title defense in UFC 250, came as a surprise, but already some believe it’s insincere and could be more of a publicity stunt. Retirements are often used as a bargaining tool in combat sports.

The 31-year-old McGregor, who has a 22-4 record in mixed martial arts, fought as recently as Jan. 18 when he scored a a first-round TKO victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in UFC 246.

“Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting,” McGregor tweeted. “Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!”

The skepticism from this retirement announcement comes from the fact that the controversial fighter has made this dubious declaration before. It’s now the third time in four years the former two-division champion has announced his retirement. He also said he was done with fighting in 2016 and 2019, only to return.

Earlier this week, UFC president Dana White said McGregor might be best served to wait and face the winner of the title bout between Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov, a McGregor nemesis who has a win over him.

After McGregor’s victory over Cerrone, there also was speculation that he would fight Floyd Mayweather again. But a boxing rematch vs. Mayweather would be a bit more challenging to hype again after McGregor was clearly beaten in his 10th-round TKO loss on Aug 26, 2017.

Hey guys I’ve decided to retire from fighting.Thank you all for the amazing memories! What a ride it’s been!Here is a picture of myself and my mother in Las Vegas post one of my World title wins!Pick the home of your dreams Mags I love you!Whatever you desire it’s yours ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Dh4ijsZacZ

Though White likely would love to have McGregor in another high-profile fight, he told reporters Saturday night that if “The Notorious” wants to retire, he should call it quits, but also noted that people have been acting strangely during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Nobody is pressuring anybody to fight,” White said after UFC 250. “And if Conor McGregor feels he wants to retire, you know my feelings about retirement — you should absolutely do it. And I love Conor … there’s a handful of people that have made this really fun for me. And he’s one of them.”

White, who has been feuds UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and star Jorge Masvidal, said the “the amount of people that I have gunning at me right now is insane.”

But the famous promoter, who also has been feuding with HBO host John Oliver, chalked up the heavy amount of UFC intrigue to the turbulent times.

“If that’s what Conor is feeling right now — Jon Jones, Jorge Masvidal, I feel you,” White said. “It’s not like I’m going, ‘Holy s—, this is crazy, this is nuts.’ Nothing is crazy and nuts right now, because everything is crazy and nuts right now, on a certain level. I totally understand it and get it.”

McGregor, who has been a subject of controversy throughout his career, has made a lot of history in the Octagon. When McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight belt at UFC 205 on Nov. 12, 2016, he became the first UFC fighter to hold two titles in two different weight classes at the same time.

Tennis: Mouratoglou targets new fanbase with innovative league

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Patrick Mouratoglou, the long-time coach of Serena Williams, feels tennis needs to reinvent itself and hopes his new league will make the sport more attractive and engaging for a younger generation.

The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS), which kicks off in France next Saturday, will have three top-10 players from the men’s ATP Tour in Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and David Goffin, joining seven others to compete in a round-robin format over five weeks.

Among the changes from the main tour, players will not face sanctions for emotional outbursts on court while fans will be able to question them during changeovers as they watch a livestream of matches.

“For many years I have been worried about the future of tennis. The average age of a tennis fan is 61, which is very old for a fan base,” Mouratoglou told Reuters.

“Tennis is failing to renew its fanbase. And that’s very worrying, because the future doesn’t look bright.”

Mouratoglou teamed up with Alex Popyrin, the father of world number 103 Alexei, to create the league that he says will showcase “new tennis”.

“I mean different tennis. Taking into consideration what was better back in the 1970s and the 80s and also bringing some modernity,” he said in an interview.

“I’m excited to showcase that and to see if this is much more attractive to the younger generation.”

UTS will be held at Mouratoglou’s academy in Nice with 10 matches every weekend for a total of 50 matches and prize money on offer for each clash.

With the professional circuit halted at least until the end of July due to COVID-19, a number of exhibition events have recently been held as lockdown rules are slowly eased.

Mouratoglou, who has been working with 23-times Grand Slam singles winner Williams since 2012, said the UTS will not be another exhibition event.

“It’s a real competition and it’s a new tour,” he said. “The players are going to win points, they’re going to earn prize money. And at the end of the year there will be a champion.

“So they’re going to really compete with the same motivation as if they were playing a tournament.”

The games will be shorter and more dynamic and will “surprise” traditional fans, according to Mouratoglou, who turns 50 on Monday.

The event will be held without fans in attendance. They will, however, be able to listen to conversations between players and coaches as they watch from home.

The Frenchman feels fans currently miss personalities who are easily identifiable – such as those from the past like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Ilie Nastase and Yannick Noah.

“I want authenticity, I don’t want players to make a show. I want players to be able to be themselves on court and express all kinds of emotions,” said Mouratoglou.

The Frenchman added that they had studied what had made different formats in other sports successful while they had also taken inspiration from esports.

The event will be live-streamed and fans will be able to watch it on utslive.tv, subscriptions for which will be less than 10 euros (about $11) a month.

UTS will distribute a major part of its advertising and broadcasting revenue to help lower-ranked players, who have been heavily affected by the sport’s shutdown. Each match will have a prize pot with the winner bagging 70% and rest going to his opponent.

“The idea is to create the tennis of the future,” said Mouratoglou. “I don’t plan to be a competitor to the ATP and the WTA. My plan is to bring new fans to the game.

“And if it works, and if the ATP and the WTA want to have the UTS under their umbrella, I’ll be happy to.”

Tenni: Mouratoglou targets new fanbase with innovative league

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Patrick Mouratoglou, the long-time coach of Serena Williams, feels tennis needs to reinvent itself and hopes his new league will make the sport more attractive and engaging for a younger generation.

The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS), which kicks off in France next Saturday, will have three top-10 players from the men’s ATP Tour in Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and David Goffin, joining seven others to compete in a round-robin format over five weeks.

Among the changes from the main tour, players will not face sanctions for emotional outbursts on court while fans will be able to question them during changeovers as they watch a livestream of matches.

“For many years I have been worried about the future of tennis. The average age of a tennis fan is 61, which is very old for a fan base,” Mouratoglou told Reuters.

“Tennis is failing to renew its fanbase. And that’s very worrying, because the future doesn’t look bright.”

Mouratoglou teamed up with Alex Popyrin, the father of world number 103 Alexei, to create the league that he says will showcase “new tennis”.

“I mean different tennis. Taking into consideration what was better back in the 1970s and the 80s and also bringing some modernity,” he said in an interview.

“I’m excited to showcase that and to see if this is much more attractive to the younger generation.”

UTS will be held at Mouratoglou’s academy in Nice with 10 matches every weekend for a total of 50 matches and prize money on offer for each clash.

With the professional circuit halted at least until the end of July due to COVID-19, a number of exhibition events have recently been held as lockdown rules are slowly eased.

Mouratoglou, who has been working with 23-times Grand Slam singles winner Williams since 2012, said the UTS will not be another exhibition event.

“It’s a real competition and it’s a new tour,” he said. “The players are going to win points, they’re going to earn prize money. And at the end of the year there will be a champion.

“So they’re going to really compete with the same motivation as if they were playing a tournament.”

The games will be shorter and more dynamic and will “surprise” traditional fans, according to Mouratoglou, who turns 50 on Monday.

The event will be held without fans in attendance. They will, however, be able to listen to conversations between players and coaches as they watch from home.

The Frenchman feels fans currently miss personalities who are easily identifiable – such as those from the past like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Ilie Nastase and Yannick Noah.

“I want authenticity, I don’t want players to make a show. I want players to be able to be themselves on court and express all kinds of emotions,” said Mouratoglou.

The Frenchman added that they had studied what had made different formats in other sports successful while they had also taken inspiration from esports.

The event will be live-streamed and fans will be able to watch it on utslive.tv, subscriptions for which will be less than 10 euros (about $11) a month.

UTS will distribute a major part of its advertising and broadcasting revenue to help lower-ranked players, who have been heavily affected by the sport’s shutdown. Each match will have a prize pot with the winner bagging 70% and rest going to his opponent.

“The idea is to create the tennis of the future,” said Mouratoglou. “I don’t plan to be a competitor to the ATP and the WTA. My plan is to bring new fans to the game.

“And if it works, and if the ATP and the WTA want to have the UTS under their umbrella, I’ll be happy to.”